Menas

Menas (; ) was a Byzantine general (magister militum) and patrikios who commanded the garrison at Chalkis and died in the Battle of Hazir. Although his exact title is unknown, al-Tabari and Ibn al-Adim both attest that he was the second-in-command after Emperor Heraclius.

Biography Map detailing the route of Muslim invasion of northern Syria. Following the Battle of Yarmouk in August 636, Syrian cities fell rapidly to Muslim armies. Damascus surrendered in late 636, followed by the Beqaa Valley, Emesa, Jerusalem after a long siege, Gaza, and Ashkelon. Menas was a distinguished soldier at the time who was loved by his men. Emperor Heraclius retreated north to Antioch, and appointed Menas to guard Chalkis, which had a strategically significant and virtually impregnable fort, as it was a gateway to Anatolia, Heraclius' homeland of Armenia, and the regional capital, Antioch.

After taking Jerusalem, Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah sent Khalid ibn al-Walid and his Mobile Guard north towards Chalcis. Menas knew that if he stayed in Chalcis, he would be besieged by the Rashidun army and would eventually have to surrender, as he could expect no help from the emperor. Therefore, diverging from conventional Byzantine tactics, he decided to face Khalid and destroy the leading elements of Muslim army before the main body could join them at Hazir, 5 kilometres (3 mi) east of Chalcis. The resulting Battle of Hazir was a disaster for the Byzantines, who according to al-Tabari had "never suffered a defeat like this". Menas died in the battle, as did all of his soldiers.

Khalid then entered Hazir. Ibn al-Adim writes that Khalid killed some of its people and left others , but al-Tabari instead says that he "accepted" some and left others . "Noumerika" may refer either to a town in Bithynia, or to the Noumeroi.